While ‘das’ Germans at Audi are playing hide and seek with the new A5 Sportback releasing only one cryptic teaser shot of the five-door coupe, a member of the Audi enthusiast forum at Fourtitude captured the sleek-looking sports sedan during a photo shoot on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. The pictures aren’t of the best quality but they clearly outline the shape of the A5 Sportback that is set to be officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall.

Audi took advantage of its TechDay Quality event where the company informed us on the methods it uses to achieve quality standards in series production vehicles, to reveal at least one photo of the 2010 A5 Sportback, that of the five-door coupe’s tailgate. Using the process of elimination, we also found a few more photos shot during the event that may be of the A5 Sportback but we aren’t entirely sure - they could be depicting the A5 Coupe.

Just like any other electronic product, navigation systems are continuously upgrade with better software and hardware. Audi’s updated navigation system plus with MMI (Multi Media Interface) for the A3, TT and R8 models promises to offer improved route calculation speeds thanks to a latest-generation processor clocked at 600 MHz while another significant enhancement is are the 800 x 480 pixel, high-resolution graphics displayed on the 6.5-inch screen.

If there’s one thing that Audi A5 owners shouldn’t be complaining about, is the lack of variety in tuning proposals. It’s got to the point where tuners like Senner are introducing one package after the other. The German firm’s latest offerings include a new styling package with various options for both the interior and exterior that can be combined with a kit for the 3.0-liter TDI diesel engine that lifts output to 300HP and 600Nm for a top speed of 280km/h or 174mph.

This year’s featured marque at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (3-5 July) is Audi as the Ingolstadt-based automaker is celebrating its 100th birthday. To commemorate the anniversary, Lord March, who hosts the festival at his back-yard 12,000-acre West Sussex estate, commissioned the creation of massive sculpture that features two cars from Audi’s history, the iconic 1937 Auto Union streamliner and the just launched R8 V10 sports car suspended in the air, at either end of the ’swoosh’ of tire tracks.

Ever wondered what a piano designed by Audi would look like? Probably not but we’re pretty sure that you’re curious enough to see how the Audi Design Studio team in Munich managed to blend in styling traits from its automobile division to an entirely different product. We’re no design specialists but we reckon that the curvalicious outer skin and aluminum details of the Bosendorfer Grand Piano leave no doubts even to an untrained eye that this product is the result of the work of Audi’s design team.

Audi’s UK division has opened the order books on the most fuel-efficient version of its A4 saloon, the 2.0 TDIe which returns a combined economy figure of 61.4mpg Imp. (4.6lt/100km or 51/1mpg US) and a low CO2 output of 120g/km. Available exclusively is sedan form and priced from £23,340 OTR, the Audi A4 2.0 TDIe will reach its first customers in October.

A new entry-level diesel is available for both the Audi Q5 SUV and the A4 allroad quattro crossover while the Q5 also gets a new base gasoline unit in the form of the 2.0 TSI. The diesel engine is a 2.0-liter TDI with common rail high-pressure injection that produces 143HP and a maximum torque of 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm. The base 2.0-liter TSI makes 180HP and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque from 1,500 to 3,900 rpm. Both engines are linked to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

Bavarian tuner Motoren Technic Mayer, best known for its high-performance Audi models, has turned its attention on the German firm’s new 3.0-liter supercharged V6 engine. On the Audi S4 sedan and Avant models, MTM’s treatment lifts output from 333HP and 440Nm (324.53 lb-ft) to 430HP and 515Nm (379.8 lb-ft) of torque which is even more than the previous generation RS4 that churned out 420 horsepower and 430Nm of torque.

A new photograph of the Audi A5 Sportback has hit the web fully revealing the five-door coupe’s profile. The styling comes to no surprise as Sportback follows in the lines of the A5 Coupe with the wavy belt line and the low roofline, but it does feature a distinct C-pillar design with a more dramatic kink at the back. Despite its sportier looks, Audi promises ‘comparable headroom and legroom’ with the A4 sedan.

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